First/Person Shooter - Hostile Planets

Environments are generated at start of each level/game - always different

from GalCiv2 Forums

Game Scenario: You are the "go to" guy - a specialist in dealing with hostile, unfamiliar environments - on other planets.

You have no memory of your life before - were you a criminal? Did you volunteer for this? Is your memory simply gone in case you fall into the "wrong hands"? Whatever it is you do the same job, over and over again. And you enjoy it. Each time that you're awoken and are preped for the jump (droid ship drops you on planet surface) you are truly up for it - it's almost as if your mind has been articfically configured to think in that way.

Game missions: Varied. Can be one of... collect some plant or alien sample, save someone, gather some object, see if something is or is not on the planet (can take a while this one), look for resources, destory all/some/specifc creatures (or things) - or simply explore the environment to create a map/survey of it. Straightforward - but never straightforward.

The Dangers: Dangerous alien creatures and plant life abound. Getting the objective completed before your air runs out. Areas were you can't be beamed out at the end of your task (have to backtrack). Huge mazes to search through - or small caverns to fight your way through. Theres only ever one constant in your envrionment: its never the same twice.

Strange noises, strange animal roars, waterfalls, death - all await you.

There is one thing on your ship that may provide the answer to your former life - a sign. On it reads: "500 sucessfull missions and you're finished."

[for those completing it - nasty surprise: "Automated computer voice: 5000 mission. Initiating self distruct in 5,4,3,2,1 - blast" Background would be someone evil person captured you and your family (daughter is the sequals main character?), wiped your memory and put you to serve him for payback. You wouldn't know this till the end - if at all (are the tasks useful to him, or is all this worthless - just done to asume him?).]

[There should be misleading clues - say one in every 50th game give or take a little - left by others that have been on the planet/tasks before - "Who am I? Have I been here before?"..."My handwriting is different - are you the same..."..."I'm at 4600 - time to go home soon!", "I've lost an arm - not going to make it"]

Game Play: First person or third person perspective (first is the default). Each time a new mission begins a completely random environment is generated for the player to explore in. Some of the variables that are automatically set include:

Game Dymanics and Unique Selling Point: This is your average 1st/3rd person shooter type game with one difference - the enivronments are auto generated at the start of each game. None of this learning the level from past mistakes nonsense - you are dropped into an unfamiliar setting each time. What weapons should you take? What clothing? What is the environment like?

Among the things that should be automatically generated at game start are:
Environment type - cave, outdoors, forest etc
Play Area - size - large or small
Character height/size in relation to the enivronment - will you character be a giant on the planet? Will he be an insect, hiding from the larger creatures - or more normal height?
Cave / Tree / Wall colour and roughness
Sun light - from one source or two.
Cavern Darkness - very dark, very bright?
Time of day (outside areas and open areas in cave) - need to use your torch
Creatures - what do they look like? Size? Speed? Ferrocity? How easily do they spot you? Hunt in packs? Kill one - do the others eat it or attack you? Note that the same creature could be placid on one world (even if it looks mean) - and on the next be vicious. Not too mention it could look like an ant - or a giant depending on the player height.
Victory conditions - a race against time to get to the exit point before your air runs out? A mapping adventure? Rescue/find someone? Capture a creature? Find an object.
Plant/tree life - is there any? Are planets normal or will they attack? Is the grass green or purple?
Sound - is it silent - all you hear is your breathing through the helmet (or can you go without your suit - making you go faster?). Strange animal sounds? Do sounds come in the opposite direction you'd expect them to?
Gravity - affects how fast,long,high you can jump/move etc. Can you bolt across an open space quickly - or do you move so slow that its seems to take an age (hope theres no creatures about)?

A player should feel tripidation at the start of each game - an unfamiliar environment where the rules are rarely what you expect. For the first few seconds (of the transportation/landing on the planet) you just here your loud breathing... then the planets strange sounds fade in. Is that little cute creature friendly - or getting ready to each you when you approach?

Programming: AI instensive - its also a given that the levels wouldn't match the quality of human artists - and it would take several sequals before its full potential is reached. A lot of effort would be in error checking - making sure that the player can get through doors, complete a task realistically etc. Once or twice it can be a walk in the park - just to keep the player confused.

Automatic downloads form the net can add in new components - including ones to be experienced by players more or less at the same time. Modders can upload things and - if good - the developer could add them in automatically via the normal update service.

I like the feeling at the start of games/levels - when you don't know whats to happen. This game would give that feeling each time it was played/each level.
11,796 views 5 replies
Reply #1 from JoeUser Forums Top
That kinda reminds me of Halo.
Reply #2 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
What - the actual story (or does Halo auto-generate levels)? I've only briefly seen Halo on the X-box (a friend had it and was playing it).

Such a game would involve having a new planet (level) auto-generated for each new game/new mission - and so the story couldn't really be a normal one centered around pre-set levels - so the story really had to be something simple like the "no memory" thing.

The nasty ending was copied from a series in the "2000AD" magazines I read as a kid (graphic novel type thing). There was one series that went on for a while. Then it was about to end and - if I remember correctly - the characters were getting rescued from the planet they'd been on by a ship sent by their original employers. The characters stood directly below the ship - ready to be picked up. Instead of picking them up however the ship opened fire on them - killing all of them. It took me by suprise - which I quite enjoyed.
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Reply #3 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
I think the forum software mislpaced this thread.

You seem to be speaking of something that's a cross between Halo and Oblivion, with the screw-you ending of the original Half-Life.

A random-level type of thing sounds actually pretty interesting, although I would think that after a while, you'd see patterns starting to develop -- only God can roll true random numbers. That kind of map would be better suited to some kind of arena game like Unreal Tournament, as good narrative usually shuns from random events.

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Reply #4 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Or you could do what the .hack series did. They had several pregenerated maps for the story and thousands of random (sort of) maps for leveling up in.
Reply #5 from GalCiv2 Forums Top

When you start any new game for the first time it takes a while for you to figure out how you character functions. This is also true when you get to a "new level" - you need to figure out where to go, whats in there etc. But after a while you get to know the level, hence it becomes easier to play. I want to completely remove that advantage so that each game and each level becomes a new, different challenge each time you play.

An example:

Turn 1 (computer ai generates a new level...)
On your space ship you need to decide which armour to take, which two weapons to take. You see a picture of the world below... but nothings for certain. I choose to take a medium armour space/protective suit and Standard Gun, and I'll take an extra Air Canister as oppossed to a second weapon. I click "Go"...

I materialise/land on the planet. My instructions are... to find an egg belonging to some small looking animal. My suit shows that its a breathable atmosphere so I can remove my mask - this won't be a time trial. Shouldn't have bothered with that extra air canister. I'm at the opening of a cave. I go to move forward... woooaah! I moved pretty fast and far there - the planet must have different gravity than I'm used to. Cool - I'll be able to jump over any hazards if the caverns/caves turn out to large. Drat - most of the caves have low ceilings (but I can still run fast).

It's dark - so I turn on my torch. I hear a noise behind me... its a rather large, scary looking creature - but it seems to be munching on that plant so hopefully it will ignore me... but I blast it anyway. Yep - went down easily. Not a meat eater.

I move through to the next cavern...shine torch..lots of plants here but little else. A plant strikes out at me unexpectedly but I destroy it by shooting it (my gun fire lights up the whole cavern briefly) - that startled me (wasn't expecting it - in the vast majority of levels plants don't do anything). I hear lots of animal noises now - looks like I've awoken the local creatures. I shine my torch around and... there.. tiny cute creatures walk by in a line - like ducklings. I stand admiring them while they cross my path, I wait for them to pass. One turns to look at me - and suddenly the pack of them are attacking at lightning speed, razor sharp teeth now apparent. With the confusion, lack of light in the cavern, and me not keeping my cool, it goes badly - I'm dead already...

Ok, lets begin a new game then.

Turn 2 (computer ai generates a new level...)
On my spaceship. Planet picture looks kinda cold, so I'll take a risk and take the Flamethrower (isn't worth a damn on hot planets so I hope I'm right). Will take a light armour space/protective suit so that I can move quicker. As my second weapon I'll take some grenades. Game starts...

Task... check for surviors at a rescue site - there air is due to run out in 15minutes. Great - its a race against the time game (my air only lasts 15 minutes too). Mmmmm - my speed seems to be about average. Hope none of the creatures can move too fast. It's another cave system (booo!) - but the caves this time are huge - and better lighted (don't really need to turn my torch on). The walls appear a dark blue stone color, and the ground looks more like yellow than brown - (but it is soil - just an unusual color).. Then I see something huge pass by one of the large entrances - ah! Now I get it. I've seen this thing once or twice before. I'm on a world where all the creatures, plants, caves etc are far larger than me (e.g. Honey I Shrunk the Kids kind of thing - with me being the one that has shrunk). As I'm smaller, hence weaker, than everything else I'll choose to keep close to the walls - where the only shadows seem to be located. I'll think I'll be sneaking rather than blasting my way through this level - but i need to move quickly.

Ten minutes later...

I started avoiding plants on the walls after (after getting a fright on my previous game) - but I eventually figured out that the plants were just that - harmless plants. So for most of the time I've been hiding in the shadows, moving round the edge of the cavern to get to an exit - most of the large creatures have ignored me.

A creature - like the one in the last game (except that it appears massive to me as I'm so small - it's teeth now lok huge!) - must be able to see in the dark - it made a bee-line straight to me (other creatures hadn't spotted me). But I realized that it wasn't going all that fast... so I calmly took aim and threw a grenade. Nothing. It's too big to be put of by that. I was set to make a run for it... but decided to use the flamethrower. Sure enough it hated fire and quickly backed away.

Aside from that the level has been quiet... but... I've only got five minutes left to reach the crash site. The last game/level had one path. This one has several passageways - so I'm getting desperate. Time to abandon hugging the wall - its a lot faster if I just make straight for the next cavern... though it means I'll be out in the open. Several plant eating creatures ignore me - but I had to move quick to avoid being accidentally stood on them.

Sound also works differently on this planet which makes things a bit strange - sound comes in the opposite direction you expect it to. Left sounds come out of my right speaker, sounds in front of me come out of the front speaker. Still its better than the level that had NO sound (I turned around to see a huge monster bearing down on me - now that gave me a fright).


To make matters worse I can now hear my own very loud "heavy breathing" (getting louder and louder) - signalling that I'm running out of air fast. Now I'm begining to panic, throwing caution to the wind. I run into a cavern that's seems very bright - its not a cavern - but rather its a huge opening - bright daylight outside (two suns naturally). At the other end of the opening I see the crash site. One annoying creature - no time to hide.... it had its back to me and didn't see me in time. I ran past it... its chasing me but is too slow. I make it to the crash site... no surviors this time. Got only a few seconds of air left... activate my beacon... and I'm transported back to the ship in the nick of time.

Turn 2 - Part 2 (computer ai generates a new level...)

The next level is far more enjoyable. My role is simply to exterminate all hostile life. I'm outside on a grassy plain (green grass for once). Lots of spear wielding neanderthal-type beings are out hunting fish and smaller animals (other levels could have deadly gun-weilding aliens). I'm much more deadly than they are - so as long as I keep hiding from the long alligator-type creatures lurking beside watering holes I'll be fine. Stange though... at one point I come across a flat rock with carvings on it. A picture of someone dressed like me, with several messages etched into the stone: "Am I the only one doing this?", "Have I been here before?", "What is the point to my existance?", "Do these creatures deserve to die?". Makes me wonder if someone like me - or perhaps even myself - wrote these.